IDF Soldiers Arrest Syrian Teen who Enters Israel

IDF soldiers from the “Oketz” canine unit arrest a 17-year-old Syrian teen after he crosses the Israeli-Syrian border.

Elad Benari, 09/11/12 03:15

View from the Golan

Israel news photo: Flash 90

IDF soldiers from the “Oketz” canine unit arrested a 17-year-old Syrian teen on Thursday morning after he crossed the Israeli-Syrian border in the southern Golan Heights.

As the unit chased after the teen, one of the unit’s dogs caught him and bit him.

A search of the teen revealed that he was not armed. He was taken for questioning by security forces and was then given medical treatment at the Ziv Hospital in Tzfat (Safed).

A military source said on Thursday evening that while the incident is still under investigation, it does not appear to be a terrorist act, but rather an attempt to escape the fighting in Syria.

There have been several instances over the past few days of the Syrian civil war spilling over into Israel.

On Thursday morning, three mortar shells were fired into Israel, with one of them hitting a neighborhood in the religious Zionist town of Alonei HaBashan, which is less than a kilometer from the border. None of the shells exploded.

IDF sappers rushed to the scene to neutralize the shells. No one was injured, and there was no damage.

On Wednesday, an IDF position near the border with Syria was hit by stray bullets. No one was hurt and no damage was caused.

The IDF said that the bullets appear to be strays from light weapons used in internal fighting in Syria.

On Monday, an Israeli military jeep was hit by Syrian gunfire on the Golan Heights. IDF soldiers were patrolling near the northern border when they came under gunfire from the Syrian side of the border.

According to the IDF, the gunfire also most likely came as the result of the internal civil war in Syria, and was not due to deliberate aggression against Israel on the part of Damascus.

The United Nations has condemned the fighting by Syrian forces close to the Golan Heights ceasefire line with Israel as a new threat to stability in the region.